In 1976, the ABA and the NBA merged, and as part of that merger, signed a TV contract that was negotiated by an atorrney and brothers Ozzie and Dan Silna, then co-owners of the St. Louis Spirits. The deal allowed them one-seventh of the television revenue generated by the four ABA teams that entered the NBA as long as the NBA were still around. In case you haven't noticed, the NBA is still around ... so the two brothers are still getting cash off their deal. A lot of cash, $168 million with a contract that has survived all legal challenges.

"I would have loved to have an NBA team," said Ozzie Silna, 73, a Malibu resident and environmental activist. "But if I look at it retrospectively over what I would have gotten, versus what I've received now, then I'm a happy camper."

The new NBA television deal is making them about $24 million a year. With a deal like this, actually owning a team is just too much trouble.